Rotary shear with pickup finger and pressure release

ABSTRACT

An elongated handle having first and second spaced jaws at one end and rotary anvil structure and rotary cutting disk structure journaled from the first and second jaws. The rotary cutting disk structure is disposed closely adjacent but slightly spaced from the rotary anvil structure for rolling engagement with the latter upon the spaced jaws being urged toward each other. The jaws comprise integral portions of the handle which is constructed of metal and the metal is at least slightly bendable and resilient so as to enable the jaws to be biased toward each other. One of the jaws has a smooth bore formed therethrough and the other jaw has a threaded blind bore formed therein in registry with the smooth bore. A headed shank-type fastener is journaled through the smooth bore and threadedly engaged in the threaded blind bore whereby tightening of the fastener will cause the one jaw through which the fastener is journaled to be biased toward the other jaw. An elongated radially extending pickup finger is fixed to the head of the fastener and extends along the one jaw and outwardly beyond the free end thereof and may be used not only as a wedge to lift cloth to be cut between the rotary anvil means and the cutting disk means but also as a lever to angularly displace the head of the fastener from which it is supported.

United States Patent [191 Florian June 11, 1974 1 ROTARY SHEAR WITHPICKUP FINGER AND PRESSURE RELEASE [76] Inventor: Berkeley .1- Florian,1500 Florian Dr., Dania, Fla. 33004 [22] Filed: Oct. 5, 1972 [21] Appl.No.: 295,193

[52] US. Cl. 30/178, 30/273 [51] lnt.Cl B26b 17/04 [58] Field of Search30/178, 179, 230

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,578,346 12/1951 Florian .l30/178 3,621,572 11/1971 Kruger 30/178 Primary Examiner-Al LawrenceSmith Assistant Examiner-Marc R. Davidson Attorney, Agent, orFirm-Clarence A. OBrien; Harvey B. Jacobson [57 ABSTRACT An elongatedhandle having first and second spaced jaws at one end and rotary anvilstructure and rotary cutting disk structure journaled from the first andsecond jaws. The rotary cutting disk structure is disposed closelyadjacent but slightly spaced from the rotary anvil structure for rollingengagement with the latter upon the spaced jaws being urged toward eachother. The jaws comprise integral portions of the handle which isconstructed of metal and the metal is at least slightly bendable andresilient so as to enable the jaws to be biased toward each other. Oneof the jaws has a smooth bore formed therethrough and the other jaw hasa threaded blind bore formed therein in registry with the smooth bore. Aheaded shank-type fastener is journaled through the smooth bore andthreadedly engaged in the threaded blind bore whereby tightening of thefastener will cause the one jaw through which the fastener is journaledto be biased toward the other jaw. An elongated radially extendingpickup finger is fixed to the head of the fastener and extends along theone jaw and outwardly beyond the free end thereof and may be used notonly as a wedge to lift cloth to be cut between the rotary anvil meansand the cutting disk means but also as a lever to angularly displace thehead of the fastener from which it is supported.

5 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures Pmmwm M 1m 3.815230 SHEET 2 OF 2 FIG- 7 36 222 ROTARY SHEAR WITH PICKUP FINGER AND PRESSURE RELEASE The rotary shearof the instant invention comprises an improvement over the rotary sheardisclosed in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 2,578,346, dated Dec. 11, 1951.

.Heretofore rotary shears such as the rotary shear disclosed in my abovementioned prior patent have been provided with means whereby the jawmembers supporting the rotary anvil structure and the rotary cuttingdisk structure may be biased together. However, these prior rotaryshears have been constructed in a manner whereby only semi-permanentadjustment of the spacing of the jaws could be effectively carried out.Rotary shears of this type are maintained in a state of adjustmentwhereby the rotary cutting disk means is .just barely rollingly engagedwith the rotary anvil structure and after initial adjustment has beenobtained, further adjustment of the special relationship of the jaws ofthe shears is not carried out until such time as it is necessary tochange the rotary disk means or sharpen the latter. However, with rotaryshears adjusted in this manner, it is sometimes difficult to start thematerial to be cut between the rotary disk means and the rotary anvilmeans.

Accordingly, the main object of this invention is to provide rotaryshears constructed in a manner whereby each time a piece of material tobe cut is placed between the rotary cutting disk means and the rotaryanvil means, the placement of the material to be cut may be accomplishedwhile the rotary anvil means and the rotary cutting disk means aresufficiently spaced from each other to receive the material to be cuttherebetween.

Another object of this invention, in accordance with the immediatelypreceding object, is to provide rotary shears including an oscillatableforwardly projecting pickup finger swingable between a laterally offsetinoperative position and a straight forwardly projecting operativeposition with the pickup finger operatively associated with the jaws ofthe shears in a manner so as to enable the jawsto separate upondisplacement of the pickup finger to its inoperative position and thejaws to be automatically drawn together to the predetermined desiredadjusted positions thereof upon displacement of the pickup finger fromthe inoperative position to the straight forwardly projecting operativeposition.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a rotary shear inaccordance with the preceding objects and including means by whichrelative displacement of the jaws of the shears toward and away fromeach other may be adjusted according to a given angularly displacedposition of the pickup finger.

A final object of this invention to be specifically enumerated herein isto provide a rotary shear in accordance with the preceding objects whichwill conform to conventional forms of manufacture, be of simpleconstruction and easy to use, so as to provide a device that will beeconomically feasible, long lasting and relatively trouble free inoperation.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the rotary shear of the instant invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the rotary shear of the instantinvention with the pickup finger thereof illustrated as positioned inFIG. 1 and in the operative position;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the rotary shear;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the pickup finger and threadedshank-type fastener by which the rotary finger is supported from one ofthe jaws of the rotary shear and utilized to urge the other jaw of theshear toward the one jaw from which the shank-type fastener issupported;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged horizontal sectional view takensubstantially upon a plane passing through the center of the pickupfinger;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view similar to FIG. 5 butillustrating a modified form of pickup finger;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view similar to FIG. 1 but with the pickup fingerin a laterally displaced inoperative position;

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the assembly illustrated in FIG. 7;and

FIG. 9 is a schematic view illustrating five exemplary cuts which may bemade with the rotary shear of the instant invention by utilizing fiverotary cutting disks of different configurations.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10generally designates the rotary shear of the instant invention. Theshear 10 includes an elongated handle 12 having a pair of generallyparallel and laterally spaced integral jaws 14 and 16 on one end anddefining a finger receiving frame 18 at its other end. The jaw 14 has alongitudinally extending passage 20- formed therethrough which dividesthe jaw 14 into opposite side plates 22 and 24 joined by an upperintegral transversely extending portion 26.

A pivot fastener 28 extends between and is secured through the sideplates 22 and 24 and has a wave-type cutting disk 30 journaled thereon.A spur gear 32 is also journaled on the fastener 28 alongside thecutting disk 30 and is drivingly coupled to the latter by means of aone-way clutch (not shown) of anyconventional design.

A lever 34 includes a first end oscillatably supported in the passage 20by means of a pivot fastener 36 extending and secured between the sideplates 22 and 24. The first end of the lever 34 disposed between theside plates 22 and 24 includes sector gear teeth 38 meshed with the spurgear 32 and the second or opposite end of the lever 34 defines athumb-receiving frame 39.

The jaw 16 has a drum-type rotary anvil 40 joumaled therefrom by meansof a pivot fastener 42 and the jaw 16 includes a smooth upstanding bore44 formed therethrough and registered with a blind threaded bore 46formed in the jaw 14. The smooth bore 44 includes a lower endcounterbore 48 and a headed shank-type fastener 50 has its smooth shankportion 52 rotatably received in the smooth bore 44, its threaded shankportion 54 threadedly engaged with the threaded bore 46 and itsdiametrically enlarged head 56 seated in the counterbore 48, the outerend of the head 56 being provided with a diametric kerf 58.

The fastener 50, of course, serves to bias the jaw 16 toward the jaw 14when the fastener 50 is tightened. However, when the fastener 50 is nottightened, the

cutting disk 30 is at least slightly spaced from the drumtype anvil 40and thus in order to cut material disposed between the cutting disk 30and the drum-type anvil 40, the fastener v50 must be tightenedsufficiently to bias the jaw 16 toward the jaw 14 in order to swing thedrum-type anvil 40 into rolling contact with the cutting disk 30.

The above description comprises a description of a rotary shearsubstantially equivalent to the rotary shear disclosed in myabove-mentioned prior patent.

However, the rotary shear includes an elongated lever arm 60 defining apickup finger 68. The arm 60 includes an upstanding smooth bore 62formed through one end and a short horizontal threaded bore 64 formed inand extending longitudinally of the corresponding end of the lever arm60. The inner end of the threaded bore 64 opens into the bore 62 and isprovided with a setscrew 66. The head 56 is firmly received in the bore62 and releasably secured in position therein by means of the setscrew66 when the latter is tightened against the head 56. The lever arm 60extends forwardly from the head 56 of the fastener 50 and terminates atits forward end in a smoothly upwardly curving pickup finger portion 68whose upper surface 70 is inclined rearwardly and upwardly andterminates a spaced distance forward of the rotary anvil 40 at anelevation spaced above the horizontal center of the anvil 40. The pickupfinger 68 is disposed immediately forwardly of the anvil 40 and includesa rear face 72 which is contoured so as to be partially cylindrical inconfiguration and to closely embrace the forward and lower peripheralportions of the anvil 40. One side of the lever arm 60 includes anupstanding longitudinally extending flange 74 which is abuttinglyengageable with the right end of the rotary anvil 40 when looking alongthe shear 10 in a forward direction.

With the shear 10 held in one hand in the conventional manner, theforward end of the shear It) may be moved laterally to the left over aworktable with the forward or under marginal portion of the pickupfinger 68 engaged with the top of the worktable or bench. In thismanner, the pickup finger 68 will be angularly displaced from thestraightforward position thereof illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawingsto the inoperative position thereof illustrated in FIG. 7 of thedrawings. As a result of the pickup finger 68 being angularly displacedfrom the operative position of FIG. 1 to the inoperative position ofFIG. 7, the fastener 50 is loosened so as to enable the resiliency ofthe material of which the handle 12 is constructed to allow the jaw 116to swing at least slightly away from the jaw 14. This, of course, willcause the cutting disk 30 and anvil 40 to be disposed in spaced apartrelation whereby material to be cut between the cutting disk 30 and theanvil 40 may be readily introduced between these two components.Thereafter, the underside of the forward end of the pickup finger 68 isdisplaced to the left over the top of the worktable so that the leverarm 60 will be swung back to the operative position illustrated in FIG.1 as defined by engagement of the limit stop flange 74 with the adjacentside of the drum-type anvil 40, and such movement of the lever arm 60from the inoperative position of FIG. 7 to the operative position ofFIG. I will cause the fastener 50 to again be tightened and the jaw I6to be urged toward the jaw 14 so as to again position the anvil 40 inrolling contact with the cutting disk 30. Thereafter, the lever 34 maybe oscillated relative to the handle 12 in the conventional manner inorder to advance the rotary shear along the material being cut betweenthe cutting disk 30 and the anvil 40.

As can be seen from FIG. 8 of the drawings, when the lever arm 60 is inthe inoperative position, the jaw 16 drops slightly relative to the jaw14 and thereby swings the rotary anvil 40 away from the cutting disk 30.

In as much as the cutting disk 30 is removably journaled on the fastener28, cutting disks of various types may be utilized on the shear so as toenable the latter to make cuts of various configurations, such as thecuts A, B, C, D and E illustrated in FIG. 9, the cut A being made by thecutting disk 30. Of course, cutting disks of still furtherconfigurations may be utilized to form cuts of any repeatingconfiguration.

With attention now invited more specifically to FIG. 6 of the drawings,there may be seen a modified form of lever arm 60 which, in lieu of thethreaded bore 64 and setscrew 66, is provided with a vertical slot 64'formed in the rear end of the lever arm 60 and with a clamp-typefastener 66 being operatively associated with the slotted portion of thelever arm 60 so as to allow the slotted portion to be clamped tightlyabout the head 56 of the fastener 50.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalentsmay be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A rotary shear, comprising a handle having first and secondvertically spaced forwardly projecting spaced jaws at one end relativelyshiftable toward and away from each other, rotary anvil means and rotarycutting disk means journaled from said first and second jaws forrotation about horizontal transverse axes, thrust means connectedbetween said jaws for selectively shifting the portions of said jawsfrom which said anvil means and said disk means are supported relativeto each other to decrease the spacing therebetween and thereby bringsaid rotary anvil and rotary cutting disk means into rolling contactwith each other, said thrust means including an actuator thereforcomprising an elongated lever having one base end portion oscillatablysupported from said handle for angular displacement of said lever aboutan upstanding axis and a free end portion underlying the lower jaw andprojecting forwardly of the axis of rotation of the corresponding rotarymeans and disposed for frictional engagement with a surface upon whichmaterial to be cut by said shear is supported.

2. The combination of claim I wherein said free end portion of saidlever arm is provided with an upwardly facing ramp surface inclinedrearwardly and upwardly toward the other rotary means.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein an intermediate portion of saidlever arm includes a laterally outstanding abutment member engageablewith one axial end of said one rotary means to establish a limit ofangular displacement of said lever arm in one direction.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said thrust means comprises arotary thrust member extending between and threadedly engaged with atleast one of said jaws, said lever arm being carried by said rotarythrust member and projecting generally radially outwardly therefrom.

S. A rotary shear, comprising a handle having first means including anactuator therefor comprising an elongated lever having one base endportion oscillatably supported from said handle for angular displacementof said lever about an upstanding axis and a free forward end portionunderlying the lower jaw and the rotary means carried thereby anddisposed for frictional engagement with a surface upon which material tobe cut by said shear is supported, said forward end portion including anupwardly projecting portion positioned for abutting engagement with oneaxial face of the lowerjaw rotary means to establish a limit of swingingmovement of the forward end portion of said lever in one direction.

1. A rotary shear, comprising a handle having first and second vertically spaced forwardly projecting spaced jaws at one end relatively shiftable toward and away from each other, rotary anvil means and rotary cutting disk means journaled from said first and second jaws for rotation about horizontal transverse axes, thrust means connected between said jaws for selectively shifting the portions of said jaws from which said anvil means and said disk means are supported relative to each other to decrease the spacing therebetween and thereby bring said rotary anvil and rotary cutting disk means into rolling contact with each other, said thrust means including an actuator therefor comprising an elongated lever having one base end portion oscillatably supported from said handle for angular displacement of said lever about an upstanding axis and a free end portion underlying the lower jaw and projecting forwardly of the axis of rotation of the corresponding rotary means and disposed for frictional engagement with a surface upon which material to be cut by said shear is supported.
 2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said free end portion of said lever arm is provided with an upwardly facing ramp surface inclined rearwardly and upwardly toward the other rotary means.
 3. The combination of claim 1 wherein an intermediate portion of said lever arm includes a laterally outstanding abutment member engageable with one axial end of said one rotary means to establish a limit of angular displacement of said lever arm in one direction.
 4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said thrust means comprises a rotary thrust member extending between and threadedly engaged with at least one of said jaws, said lever arm being carried by said rotary thrust member and projecting generally radially outwardly therefrom.
 5. A rotary shear, comprising a handle having first and second vertically spaced forwardly projecting spaced jaws at one end relatively shiftable toward and away from each other, rotary anvil means and rotary cutting disk means journaled from said first and second jaws for rotation about horizontal transverse axes, thrust means connected between said jaws for selectively shifting the portions of said jaws from which said anvil means and said disk means are supported reLative to each other to decrease the spacing therebetween and thereby bring said rotary anvil and rotary cutting disk means into rolling contact with each other, said thrust means including an actuator therefor comprising an elongated lever having one base end portion oscillatably supported from said handle for angular displacement of said lever about an upstanding axis and a free forward end portion underlying the lower jaw and the rotary means carried thereby and disposed for frictional engagement with a surface upon which material to be cut by said shear is supported, said forward end portion including an upwardly projecting portion positioned for abutting engagement with one axial face of the lower jaw rotary means to establish a limit of swinging movement of the forward end portion of said lever in one direction. 